Delia Smith Garlic Prawns Food

PRAWNS PROVENCALE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 475 degrees F (245 degrees C). Line a sheet pan with aluminum foil. Brush with 1 tablespoon olive oil.
• Carefully remove shells and legs of prawns; leave the tail attached. To butterfly the prawns, cut a slit with a small sharp knife lengthwise down the belly side of shrimp, almost to the skin on the back. Open out like a book.
• Place chopped garlic, large pinch kosher salt, oregano, and thyme in a mortar; pound and stir with a pestle a few seconds. Add 1 tablespoon fresh parsley. Pound and stir mixture until it turns into a paste, 1 or 2 minutes. Add 1/3 cup olive oil; mix about 1 minute to infuse olive oil with herbs and garlic.
• Place bread crumbs in a mixing bowl. Transfer herb-garlic mixture to breadcrumbs. Add a pinch of salt, black pepper, pinch cayenne, remaining chopped parsley, and grated cheese. Mix with a fork to distribute ingredients evenly. Pinch a bit of the mixture; if it feels a bit dry and doesn't stick to your finger, drizzle in a bit more olive oil. Stir until mixture reaches desired consistency. 2 to 3 minutes.
• Lightly but thoroughly coat cut side of prawns with crumb mixture; place on prepared baking sheet.
• Bake in preheated oven until cooked through and tails curl up, 8 to 10 minutes.

GARLIC PRAWNS

Steps:

• Remove prawn heads and peel prawns, leaving tails intact.
• 'Butterfly' prawns by turning them on to their backs and, working from the tail, use a small, sharp knife to slit them almost in half lengthwise.
• Press down lightly with your hand to flatten them slightly.
• Remove and discard the 'vein' located along the length of the cut.
• Place the prawns in a single layer into a buttered baking dish.
• Now, simply combine the melted butter, garlic, lemon rind and juice, 1 tablespoon of the chopped parsley and a good pinch or two of black pepper and pour evenly over the prawns in the baking dish.
• At this stage, the dish can be covered with plastic wrap and kept in the fridge until you are ready to cook it.
• To cook, preheat oven to 230°C (450°F).
• Place the baking dish on the highest shelf of the oven.
• Cook prawns for 5-8 minutes, or until pink.
• The prawns will take more like 7-8 minutes to cook if they have been prepared earlier and chilled.
• To serve, sprinkle lightly with salt and with the reserved parsley.

PRAWN COCKTAIL A LA DELIA SMITH

Steps:

• PRAWNS:.
• The very best version of this is made with prawns (either fresh or frozen in their shells) that you have cooked yourself.
• Failing that, buy the large cooked prawns in their shells, or if you can only get shelled prawns, get those.
• To prepare them: if frozen put them in a colander and allow to defrost thoroughly at room temperature for about 1 hour.
• After that, if using uncooked prawns, heat a large solid frying pan or wok and dry-fry the prawns for 4-5 minutes until the grey turns a vibrant pink.
• As soon as they're cool, reserve 6 in their shells for a garnish and peel the remainder.
• Then take a small sharp knife, make a cut along the back of each peeled prawn and remove any black thread.
• Place them in a bowl, cover with film wrap and keep in the fridge until needed.
• TO MAKE THE SAUCE::.
• Take mayonnaise and add it to the rest of the sauce ingredients.
• Stir and taste to check the seasoning, then keep the sauce covered with film wrap in the refrigerator, until needed.
• ASSEMBLY.
• When you are ready to serve, shred the lettuce and rocket fairly finely and divide them between 6 stemmed glasses, then peel and chop the avocado into small dice and scatter this in each glass amongst the lettuce.
• Top with the prawns and the sauce, sprinkle a dusting of cayenne pepper on top and garnish with 1 section of lime and 1 unpeeled prawn per glass.
• Serve with brown bread and butter.